1. Field of the Invention
The invention lies in the telecommunications field. More specifically, the invention pertains to a method of operating a telecommunication network, in which call-processing equipment is controlled by a switching processor at a network node of a telecommunication network. The switching processor stores, besides the operating system, typically several hundred application programs for processing application objects. The application objects have object data which are prescribed according to association with a particular object class. The switching processor is maintained from a control computer, using maintenance messages. The maintenance messages contain filter conditions for selecting particular application objects.
If the call-processing equipment is an exchange, then there is, among other things, an application program for administration of the subscribers connected to the exchange. The data for these subscribers are stored in subscriber objects. If the exchange is put into operation or if subscriber data is later changed in the exchange, then this is expediently done from a central control computer. Powerful methods for maintaining the telecommunication network are produced if so-called open systems are used, whose programming entails the observance of standards applicable on a worldwide basis. By way of example, standards of the ISO (International Standardization Organization) and of the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) with its body ITU-T relate to the design of such open systems. On the basis of these standards, a separate telecommunications management network will be used to maintain the switching processor. The interfaces between the control computer and the switching processor are standardized in protocols.
From the control computer, the application objects are regarded as models for particular devices and resources, e.g. for hard disks, processors, transmission lines or subscriber connections. In the exchange, the application programs need to ensure that the object data for the application objects also corresponds to the actual operating states of the devices and resources.
Maintenance messages are explained in the standard X.710 (1991) "Data Communication Networks: Open Systems Interconnection (OSI); Management--Common Management Information Service Definition for CCITT Applications". Thus, for example, there are CREATE and GET maintenance messages for creating and getting the data for an application object. According to section 6.4 of standard X.710, the application objects have a tree structure which defines the relationship between the various application objects. An application object can be selected directly without a filter condition by stipulating the object class and by stipulating an identification for the application object. On the basis of section 6.5 of standard X.710, however, indirect selection is also used, in which case levels are first defined in the tree structure, whose application objects are used for a filter operation which is to be carried out on that basis. The way to process the maintenance messages simply and as quickly as possible in the switching processor is not disclosed in standard X.710.
The document A SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE SUPPORTING CMIP MANAGEMENT INFORMATION BASES OF ATM SWITCHES, GLOBECOM 1995. IEEE GLOBAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE; SINGAPORE; Nov. 14-16, 1995, Vol. 3, Nov. 14, 1995 (1995-11-14), pages 1862-66, XP000633611 INSTITUTE OF ELECTRONIC ENGINEERS by Dan Tian discloses a software architecture which has a joint management and information protocol for a management information base of network switching elements having asynchronous transfer mode. An administration manager transmits an activity instruction to an administration agent for the network switching element. The administration agent transmits the results of the activity carried out and/or event reports to the administration manager.